Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community composition in agricultural soils under reduced precipitation (part of ERA-Net Biodiversa "SoilClim" project)

In this study, we investigated the joint effects of different farming systems on the community composition and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) under drought conditions within an agricultural long-term field experiment, i.e. the Swiss DOK (biodynamic, bioorganic and conventional [konventionell] agricultural management) which started in 1978. A field experiment, to manipulate the natural precipitation patterns, using fixed location rainout shelters, to explore the impact of long-term agricultural management practices and short-term effects of reduced summer precipitation on AMF communities has been established. The AMF, their diversity and community composition in arable fields were assessed based on 1.5 kb long fragment, covering parts of small ribosomal subunit (SSU), ITS and parts of the large ribosomal subunit (LSU) by single-molecule real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing.